Officials OK riverfront development

Tuesday

Mar 19, 2013 at 12:01 AM

TUSCALOOSA | The Tuscaloosa Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved an approximately $42 million multi-use development for the former Tuscaloosa Chevrolet site along the Black Warrior River.

By Jason MortonStaff Writer

TUSCALOOSA | The Tuscaloosa Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved an approximately $42 million multi-use development for the former Tuscaloosa Chevrolet site along the Black Warrior River.The project, dubbed “Riverfront Village,” would bring 201 living units with 452 beds in a combination of lease and for-sale spaces.Additionally, almost 40,000-square-feet of retail space is planned on the bottom floors of four of the possible five buildings — one of which will be four stories, while the others will be three stories or less. The development would be on a 7.6-acre site.“I sure am excited about this rendition, and I believe it will set the bar,” said commission member Robert Reynolds.Commission Chairman Steven Rumsey agreed.“This is a such an improvement compared to some of the things we’ve seen,” Rumsey said.None of the commission’s members had additional recommendations for Chance Partners, the Atlanta-based development company that is bringing its fourth project to Tuscaloosa in 14 months. And none of the three residents who spoke when the floor was opened to the public offered any criticisms on the plan.“I certainly want to speak in favor of this development,” said Jim Page, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama. “It’s also a higher and better use for that property than what’s currently there today.”Joan Barth, who heads the community group Tuscaloosa Neighbors Together, said she appreciated the developers factoring in complaints over previous development proposals, such as accessibility for visitors and those seeking to utilize the nearby River Walk recreational trail.“We do appreciate the attention to the community concerns that were expressed so that we don’t have to come back and say them all again,” Barth said.Christopher Kritzman, a partner and developer for Chance Partners who gave the hour-long presentation to the Planning and Zoning Commission, was pleased with the response from both the commission and the public.“I don’t think it could’ve gone any better,” Kritzman said.The matter now goes before the City Council, which is expected to vote tonight to set April 2 as a public hearing date for the project.Barring any objections, a final vote for approving the project — which lies in the Riverfront Development zone and requires the City Council’s approval — could come by mid-April.Should all go according to plan, the developers could have much of the construction on the project completed by July 2014, said Judd Bobolin, president and CEO of Chance Partners.Kritzman and Bobolin have said they are aware of the risk the company is taking in proposing a large-scale development on this site.In early 2012, the Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council rejected a proposal by Carter development company to build 270 apartment units with 854 bedrooms and 7,500 square feet of retail space on the site.Kritzman outlined the extensive amount of due diligence that Chance Partners did before bringing its proposal in front of city leaders. That included studying the previous proposals for the site and meeting with city leaders to ensure the development complies with all existing regulations.The result is a project that required no variances. Stacey Browning, land use controls manager for the city’s Office of Planning and Development Services, confirmed that no variance requests have been filed.That means the project meets the conditional use requirements for multifamily or townhouses in the Riverfront Development Zone, which requires both a minimum of 20 percent of all buildings to be retail and a residential density that cannot exceed 60 bedrooms per acre, with no more than three bedrooms per unit. The proposed development also would have 584 parking spaces — a 450-space parking deck and an additional 134 spaces on the ground — meet the demand of one parking space per bedroom and one parking space for every 300-square-feet of gross commercial building area.For the commercial space, Chance Partners envisions at least three restaurants, a coffee shop and a variety of retail shops.Kritzman said the target audience for the living areas are college students in undergraduate, graduate or law programs; young professionals, singles or couples; and older residents seeking smaller living spaces now that their children have moved out of the house. “We think this is a terrific community for ... generally, almost anyone in Tuscaloosa,” Kritzman said.